We have too many programs
Your Question:
“We offer something almost every day of the week. How do we reduce the number of CM programs?”
The Issues:
“Weaning” the church and the parents off of “doing it all” for the family is going to be difficult. At first, you may need to offer ideas for parents to use as they minister to their own families at home. Convincing the senior pastor to reduce programs may also be a challenge
Scripture Foundation:
(To parents) “Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he won’t depart from it.” Proverbs 22:6
Short Answer:
It might be that you, as the CM director, are the only one who feels that you offer too many programs. You are sensing that your CM team is being stretched to the limit. You may have already had team members quit because of exhaustion. Changing this situation will require that you either add more CM team members or discontinue some programs. You, and your senior pastor, must “wrestle” with your church’s views regarding family. There are probably some families that are present for every program. What does this do for the family unit? If your senior pastor agrees that reducing programs will actually enhance family balance, it will be easier to reduce the number of programs you offer. If the senior pastor doesn’t agree to reducing the number of CM programs offered, he must realize that your CM team may not be able to continue doing what they’ve done for some time. Talk with the youth ministry (YM) director to see if he/she is also feeling the “pinch” of too many programs. If the YM director would like to reduce the number of YM programs offered, you might be able to shift the focus from purely CM or YM programs to “family events.” If you do this, the CM and YM will share the burden of the programs while also letting the parents spend time with their own children or youth. Again, the senior pastor will have to agree to this. He may want you to “sell” him on what how the adults will benefit from this shift. He will also ask about those adults who don’t have a “family” (single adults or married adults without children or youth). Obviously, those adults can be used as facilitators of the “family” programs. This will provide both the CM and YM team members some relief from feeling required to serve at those programs. If the senior pastor agrees to this shift, you must set a date for an evaluation of the new “family” program approach. After several weeks, the three of you (you, the YM director and the senior pastor) will meet and discuss the “fruit” of the new programming. If attendance and comments are high, then you’ve found a solution. If the attendance and comments are low, it might be better to end those programs. Ending a program is not that difficult to do. Don’t stretch the ending out over a long period of time. Set an ending date and stand by it. If you want to give the parents ideas to do with their families at home, that is okay; but remember that that “provision” can soon become a burden for you. If you do this, you’ll eventually have to “wean” the parents off this as well. For more ideas, click the links below. For more help, click on the links below.
Visit other articles in the “Developing Programs APPENDIX“
